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Lee Shearer

A veteran university marketing and communications professional will be the interim replacement for the University of Georgia’s departing vice president for public affairs, Tom Jackson.

University officials also plan to change the name of the division Jackson led from “Public Affairs Division” to “Division of Marketing and Communications” once a permanent replacement is named to replace Jackson.

Northeast Georgia students will begin trickling back to school today as area school systems begin the 2015-16 school year.

Jefferson City Schools are the first to begin, with classes starting today. But next week the trickle will turn into a flood.

Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School’s first classes are Monday, Barrow County’s are Tuesday, Oconee County’s are Wednesday. A week from today, on Aug. 7, Jackson, Madison and Oglethorpe counties begin classes, along with Prince Avenue Christian and Commerce City schools.

Children and their parents will be lining up at Madison County Middle School at 6 p.m. this evening as the county gears up for the upcoming school year with one of the area’s first school-related events.

The county’s annual Back-To-School Rally brings hundreds to the school to get free school supplies, school supplies and a hot dog supper, said Madison County School Superintendent Allen McCannon.

When Maurice Daniels steps down as dean of the UGA School of Social Work sometime this year or next and Tom Jackson leaves his post as vice president for public affairs at the end of this month, the university will have only a handful of deans and vice presidents whose tenure extends beyond five years.

Daniels isn’t retiring, but is going back to the faculty to have more time to work on his latest book and on his ongoing Foot Soldiers for Civil Rights projects, he said.

The University of Georgia will spend $4.4 million to hire 56 new faculty members over the next year “to enhance the learning environment” by reducing class sizes, university officials announced Monday.

At the same time, the university will add a total of 319 new course sections in 81 majors by the time classes begin for fall semester 2016, a little more than a year from now — an average of about six courses per new faculty member.

Most of those new classes will have fewer than 20 students, according to the university’s announcement.

A Fulton County State Court judge has dismissed a University of Georgia professor’s lawsuit against former UGA President Michael Adams and the university. In a separate lawsuit, a Fulton County Superior Court judge has refused to reconsider his dismissal of another lawsuit the professor filed against state and university officials.

The University of Georgia will spend $4.4 million to hire 56 new faculty members over the next year “to enhance the learning environment” by reducing class sizes, university officials announced Monday.

At the same time, the university will add a total of 319 new course sections in 81 majors by the time classes begin for fall semester 2016, a little more than a year from now — an average of about six courses per new faculty member.

Clarke County school officials will try to stem an epidemic of absenteeism when classes start up again Aug. 11.

About 15 percent of Clarke students missed 15 or more days of school last year, said Dawn Meyers, social work director for the Clarke County school district. That’s three weeks of instruction, nearly 10 percent of an 180-day school year. About 28 percent of Clarke students, more than one in four, missed 10 or more days.